The Shalom Center - Addressing Global Terrorism

The Sukkah & the World Trade Center

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:11:19 -0400

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow*
(Written on Sept.12, 2001).

When the Jewish community celebrates the harvest festival, we build "sukkot."

What is a "sukkah"? Just a fragile hut with a leafy roof, the most vulnerable of houses. Vulnerable in time, where it lasts for only a week each year. Vulnerable in space, where its roof must be not only leafy but leaky -- letting in the starlight, and gusts of wind and rain.

In the evening prayers, we plead with God -- "Ufros alenu sukkat shlomekha" -- "Spread over all of us Your sukkah of shalom."

Why a sukkah?-- Why does the prayer plead to God for a "sukkah of shalom" rather than God's "tent" or "house" or "palace" of peace?

'CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR,' THE CULTURE OF IMPERIALISM, AND THE DISTORTION OF HISTORY

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:51:20 -0400

By Jeremy Kuzmarov

History News Network
December 31, 2007

http://hnn.us/articles/45974.html

In his provocative 1993 book, *Culture and Imperialism*, Edward W. Said
examines how cultural representations in the West have historically helped
to stereotype Third World peoples as being passively reliant on foreign
aid for their social and political uplift, thus engendering support for
imperial interventions ostensibly undertaken for humanitarian purposes.

This was true, he argued, even in works critical of Western interventions,
like Joseph Conrad’s *The Heart of Darkness* and Graham Greene’s *The

TO DISCOVER THE TRUE AMERICA: Fasting on Oct. 8 to challenge the culture of Violence

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:06:12 -0400

WE CALL FOR A NATION-WIDE FAST ON OCTOBER 8
TO DISCOVER THE TRUE AMERICA;

TO MOVE FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY,
FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE

A Call from the Tent of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah

America stands in great danger of becoming addicted to violence, at home and overseas.

Pervasive violence in American culture, society, and policy is expressed in mass murders like those at Columbine and Virginia Tech; in daily murders on the streets of our cities; in physical and sexual abuse in families and communities; in the obsession of our media with grotesque violence; in our government's decision to wage an unnecessary, morally abhorrent, and disastrous war; in its effort to make torture a legitimate instrument of policy; indeed, most lethal of all, in the ecocidal violence we are imposing on the earth itself.

Why Do We Need a Tent of Abraham?

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:15:06 -0500

Reopening the Tent of Abraham

Rabbi Phyllis O. Berman and Rabbi Arthur O. Waskow *

The world is falling helter-skelter down a steep incline toward a fatal cliff: an endless world war between the whole Muslim world and the West, or perhaps the United States. A war between the different families of Abraham.

Sometimes it seems we are already over the edge of the cliff, but perhaps, God willing, im yirtzeh hashem, inshallah, not quite yet. Barely.

Such a war would leave us all at constant risk of death, impoverishment for all public and many private goods, ridden and riddled with fear and rage. Write large – write "global" -- the tip of Manhattan on September 11, 2001; the city of Baghdad all of June, July, August, 2006; Qana on July 30, 2006; Kfar Giladi on August 6.

The 2006 Vote & Beyond: Celebrate -- & Build anew; Mourn -- & Build Anew; Celebrate -- &

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:12:30 -0500

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

The midterm Congressional elections of 2006 and their aftermath open up the possibilities of change.

During the election campaign, The Shalom Center scrupulously adhered to our obligation to focus on spiritually rooted policies, not on candidates for election. And the election results in terms of specific people and their connection to specific ethical policies are somewhat spotty.

But over-all, the window has been opened for fresh winds of change, to bring new life into what was an airless, lethal lock-box.

And this we should celebrate!

In the Passover Seder, there is a puzzling song that celebrates each step of liberation as if that step were enough. "If we had gotten to the Red Sea but the waters had not split for us - Enough! Dayenu!" "If we had gotten to Sinai but no Torah had appeared - Enough! Dayenu!"

A JEWISH CALL TO HEAL GOD'S WORLD BY WEAVING WORLD COMMUNITY

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:36:31 -0400

Dear Friends,

Below you will find A JEWISH CALL TO HEAL GOD'S WORLD BY WEAVING WORLD COMMUNITY.

This call has been signed by 82 rabbis and four cantors, from all the branches of the Jewish religious tree. Now we welcome all members of the Jewish community to sign as well.

To do so, please click on the blue Donate button on this page, and on the "in behalf of" line, write in "worldweave." Please give what you can (it's tax-exempt). All gifts are a great help; AND please aim to give as close to $180 as you can - to make it more possible to spread this message.

Please note that the signers commit themselves to go beyond embracing and announcing this Call -- to consult and then to act, as each of us assesses her or his own time and energy, to move the vision forward into actuality.

Justice Dept says Torture-based Evidence at Guantanamo is Legitimate

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 13:38:51 -0500

Michael J. Sniffen for Associated Press, 12/3/2004

U.S. MILITARY SAYS EVIDENCE GAINED BY TORTURE IS ACCEPTABLE
By Michael J. Sniffen

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=8&id=321015

WASHINGTON — Evidence gained by torture can be used by the U.S. military in
deciding whether to imprison a foreigner indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
as an enemy combatant, the government concedes.

"West Wing" + Red Sox = Kerry; New Readers' Contest

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 20:59:34 -0500

Pinch-Hitter Arthur Waskow, 10/21/2004

Dear folks,

For years, I have indulged the fantasy of living in a well-governed America by watching the TV "West Wing." Last year, it got increasingly frenzied with derring-do of war and violence — often misdirected, just as in "real life" these last few years.

But now TV has turned the corner. The new-season premiere of "West Wing" and the seventh game of the American League playoffs came on the same night. My conclusions about the coming elections are below.

Below are also the rules for A NEW READERS' CONTEST like our recent "Karl Rove Tactical Intervention" contest. Be sure to enter — There's a wonderful prize!!

CIA Expert assails Bush version of war on terrorism

Tue, 29 Jun 2004 01:00:00 -0400

Walter PIncus of the Washington Post, 6/29/2004

By Walter Pincu

Washington Post, June 26, 2004

WASHINGTON - A new book by a senior CIA analyst who headed the agency's task force on Osama bin Laden sharply attacks the Bush administration's approach

Condi Gets A Reality Check

Thu, 03 May 2007 13:59:27 -0400

David J. Sirota and Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, Center for American Progress, 4/14/2004

Condi Gets A Reality Check
By David J. Sirota and Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, Center for American Progress
April 8, 2004

Opening Statement

CLAIM: "We decided immediately to continue pursuing the Clinton Administration's covert action authorities and other efforts to fight the network."

FACT: Newsweek reported that "In the months before 9/11, the U.S. Justice Department curtailed a highly classified program called 'Catcher's Mitt' to monitor al-Qaeda suspects in the United States." Additionally, AP reported "though Predator drones spotted Osama bin Laden as many as three times in late 2000, the Bush administration did not fly the unmanned planes over Afghanistan during its first eight months," thus terminating the reconnaissance missions started during the Clinton Administration. [Sources: Newsweek, 3/21/04; AP, 6/25/03]

Commemorate September 11 with Circles of Hope

Wed, 17 Sep 2003 01:00:00 -0400

From September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, 9/17/2003

Please join us in creating Circles of Hope to commemorate the two-year

anniversary of our loved ones deaths on September 11. We plan to encircle

the World Trade Center site with a cand

9/11 Memorial Poetry & Prophecy

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:18:43 -0400

Marge Piercy, the Prophet Ezekiel, "Ashes & Stone", 9/8/2003

We are making available three passages of liturgy/ poetry/ prophecy that you might find useful in memorials for the dead of 9/11 — and those who are still dying .

(According to recent news reports, delays and falsehoods by the Environmental Protection Agency about environmental dangers in the pulverized dust from the Twin Towers has probably condemned hundreds or thousands of others, and their children, to illnesses and deaths that are still unfolding.)

The poet and novelist Marge Piercy did us the great honor of sending THE SHALOM REPORT a memorial poem for us to circulate to you. We invite you to use it, as part of your own memorial.

Below Piercy's poem we have emplaced two other passages you might want to use for memorials: a "Litany of Dust and Ashes" and a pasaage from the prophet Ezekiel.

Al three serve well to encourage reflection on what happened and why, rather than mere reaction. Reflection that helps, like our reflection in a mirror, to let us look within our selves.

Shalom,

Arthur

9/11 Memorial Poem

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 12:36:33 -0400

Marge Piercy, 9/7/2003

Dear Friends,

The poet and novelist Marge Piercy did us the great honor of sending THE SHALOM REPORT this memorial poem for us to circulate to you. We invite you to use it, as part of your own memorial. It serves well to encourage reflection, not mere reaction.

Shalom,

Arthur

Commemorate September 11 with Circles of Hope

Tue, 05 Aug 2003 01:00:00 -0400

From September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, 8/5/2003

Please join us in creating Circles of Hope to commemorate the two-year

anniversary of our loved ones deaths on September 11. We plan to encircle

the World Trade Center site with a cand

Preventing a Terrorist Mushroom Cloud

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 16:03:40 -0500

David Krieger 10/10/2001

PREVENTING A TERRORIST MUSHROOM CLOUD

By David Krieger

The images of the hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Center are nightmare images of unspeakable horror that will forever be a part of our reality.

Imagine, however, another nightmare — that of a mushroom cloud rising over an American city. This is a threat we can no longer ignore. Perhaps today citizens and leaders alike will better understand the seriousness of the nuclear threat.

The destruction of the World Trade Center was a powerful warning. It signals that determined terrorists are prepared to sacrifice their lives to harm us, that future attacks could involve weapons of mass destruction, and that nuclear dangers are increasing because of terrorist activity.